Air or steam operated pump.



Patented Iles:` 23, i902.

F. HEIL,V MB 0R STEAM OPERATEU PUMP.

(Applicatioxg led Feb. 20, 1 901.)

{Nn Model.)

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Ziff. itil. Il' l 'lmzffar UNiTnD STATES lATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN HEIL,` OF SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA.

AIR OR STEAM OPERATED PUMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,839, dated December 23, 1902.

Application filed February 20, 1901. Serial No. 48,176. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern: K

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN HEIL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Santa Ana, in the county of Orange and State of California, have invented a new and useful Air or Steam Operated Pump, of which the following is a specification.

An object of my invention is to provide superior means for raising oil or water from deep wells.

My invention is also applicable for use in shallow wells; but it is of especial value for use in deep wells for the reason that by my invention the weight upon the valve or valves and working parts is red need to a minimum and the Wearing of parts is practically done away with.

My invention is capable of the most satisi'actory operation when the inlet-valve of the pump is deeply immersed below the normal level of the liquid, so that the discharge-pipe will readily lill by natural forces to a depth suticient to conne the steam or air beneath it, thereby making the action of the steam or air eective to force the liquid out at the top of the pipe.

In this invention the expansion of the air or steam is employed for lifting the liquid, and I prefer to superheat the air or steam before it is introduced into the pump, thereby giving greater tension to the same. This superheating is especially applicable to oilwells, where the hotfairserves an especially valuable purpose by making heavy oils more 3 5 fluid, and thereby-facilitating the precipitation of the sand and other impurities.

In order to effectively lift the liquids by the expansion of air, I provide means whereby the operation is made intermittent, and in myinvention I prefer to employ automatic means for giving the intermittent action necessary. With this object in view I propose to provide a lever-operated connection, such as a rod or some other appliance, for operating the valve and to operate said lever or other appliance by means of steam, air, tilting tank, clockwork, or any other suitable device for working the valve automatically.

In my invention Vas applied in deep-well pumps the air or steam is admitted to the liquid-containing chamber lof the lifting-pipe or pump-stock through an opening controlled by a valve at the level from which the oil is 'to be lifted, so that the air or steam constantly fills the air or steam supply pipe down to that level; but when the valve is closed the escape of the air or steam through the opening ceases and the further lifting of the liquid is produced by the expansion of the air or steam and the upward pressure of the liquid rising from below.

Although my invention is of peculiar value for deep oil-wells, it is-also applicablein various other kinds of pumps and for various other purposes, and when considered in a broad light embraces a pump comprising a chamber having an outlet anda valved inlet,

said inlet being arranged to allow a body of liquid to enter the chamber by gravity and means being provided for introducing air or steam pressure intermittently and to close the valve and eject the liquid from said chamber, said means being adapted to intermittently cut off the air or steam pressure to allow the chamber to till by gravity through the valved inlet after each ejection has taken place.

A further object of my invention is to provide for lifting a maximum quantity of oil or water in a given time with a minimum pressure of air or steam. To accomplish this object, I make provision for introducing the airpressure at various levels within the well, as will hereinafter be 'more fully set forth.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure I is a fragmental sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention as applied for pumping the oil from a deep Wellin which the `oil stands at a considerable height-say four or fivehundred feet, more or lessabove the bottom of the Well. Broken sections of the earth and pipes are shown, and a simple means for producing the requisite air-pressure and for superheating the compressed air are also shown. Fig. II is an enlarged fragmental sectional detail of the same. Fig. III is an enlarged section on line III III, Fig. II, omitting the valve; Fig. 1V is an enlarged sectional detail on line IV IV, Fig. II. Fig. V is an enlarged detail of a form of adjustable connection between the valve-rod and the lever which operates it.

o. indicates the lifting-pipe or pump-stock,

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having any suitable discharge-outlet b at the upper end thereof.

c indicates a suitable check-valve at the lower end of the lifting-pipe. In the drawings a ball-valve is shown; but it is to be understood that any desirable form of checkvalve may be used.

d indicates an air or steam pipe furnished with an outlet e above the check-valve at the bottom of the lifting pipe. Any suitable means may be provided for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe d. The air-compressor f indicates such means. The furnace g indicates suitable means for superheating the air or steam, as the case may be, between the air or steam pipe d and the source of duid-pressure, which in the case of steam would be a boiler (not shown) and in the case of compressed air would be an air-compressor, as at f. vThe valve 71, indicates means for opening and closing the outlet e of said air or steam pipe. The rod indicates a reciprocating connection for intermittently operating the valve h for alternately opening and closing the outlet e.

The operation of the pump thus far described is as follows: The oil or waterj rises within the pump-stock a by gravity to its natural level k, Which may-be at any height above the bottom of the Well, depending upon the oil-supply. If the depth of the oil within the well is such that it can be lifted out of the well by a convenient air or steam pressure, the pump will be operated by raising the connection i, thus lifting the valve h and allowing the steam or air under pressure to escape downward through the outlet e. The

valve c being closed causes the air or steam pressure to be effectively expended in lifting the oil or water which is above the outlet e and carrying it up and throwing it out at the discharge-port b of the lifting-pipe. When the liquid has thus been discharged or at any appropriate time before it is discharged, the connection t' will be lowered to cause the valve h to close the outlet e, thus allowing the oil or water from below to lift the valve c and again till the lifting-pipe to the natural level at c. When again filled, the valve h will again be raised, and the operation just described will be repeated. This intermittent operation of the connection t' is to be regulated to correspond with the rapidity with which the liquid flows in to till the pipe a to the level to which itis to rise by natural forces before the air or steam is applied to eject it and also by the time required for discharge after the duid-pressure has been admitted at the outlet e. I therefore provide timed means for reciprocating the connection t', and, as hereinbefore stated, such timed means may be of any suitable character, type, or construction. shown a tilting tank fm, suspended bya chain 'n from a lever o, which is pivoted to a supportp and is adj ustably connected with the valve-rod or connection 't'. The tilting tank fm, is filled from a reservoir q, and a faucet fr In the drawings I have' is provided to regulate the supply of liquid from the tank q, which will flow into the tilting tank m. The operator will time the operation of the opening of the valve byincreasing or decreasing the discharge of liquid from the faucet r, so that the time required for lling the pipe a to the required level will correspond to the time of filling the tilting tank m, so that when the oil or water has risen to the required level in the pipe a the weight of the tilting tank m will be sufficient to pull down the lever o and raise the rod t', thus opening the valve h and allowing the steam to discharge the liquid through the dischargeport b. The time during which the Huidpressure will be discharged through the ontlet e will depend upon the time required for emptying-thetiltingtankm. Whensaidtank is emptied, the weight of the rod t' will seat the valve h and lift the tank m into position to again be filled. The oil or water will iill the lower part of the lifting-pipe or pumpstock a much more rapidly than it will the upper part of said lifting-pipe, and in cases where the oil or water will naturally stand at a great height above the bottom of the well great economy of time will be gained by applying the fluid-pressure beneath the liquid to begin to lift the liquid out of the well before such liquid has risen to the natural level. The air or steam pressure required to operate the pump depends much upon the depth of liquid above the outlet through which the steam is admitted to the chamber s of the pump.

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In order to take advantage of the rapid Iilling of the chamber s at the lower portion thereof and also to economize by using a moderate fluid-pressure-say fifty, sixty, or a hundred pounds to the square inch, more or less, as desired-I furnish the steam or air pipe d with a plurality of outlets at different levels, as shown at e e e2 e3, and furnish valves h h h2 h3, respectively, for said outlets, respectively, and provide means for opening the said valves successively, beginning with the lowermost Valve and ending with the uppermost valve, and also to close the valves successively, beginning with the topmost valve and ending with the lowermost valve, and means are provided whereby the connection t' can be made to alternately open and close any one of the several valves, at the same time leaving the valves thereabove, if any, closed and the valves therebelow, if any, open. This will be understood by referring to Fig. II, in which the valves h h h2 are shown closed and the connection t' is shown connected directly to the valve h and playing through a bail l on the ring-valve h' and through a bail 2 on the ring-valve h2, a shoulder 3 being provided on the rod t' at a distance below said bail 1 equal to the stroke of said rod, which is necessary for the opening and closing of the lowermost valve h, and a shoulder t is provided on the rod 'L' beneath the bail 2 of the valve h2 at a distance from IIO said bail 2 equal to twice the stroke of the rod vl which is necessary to open and close the valve h. Itis to be understood that the same arrangement will continue throughout all the valves from the lowermost to the uppermost, the play between the shoulder for any valve and the bail for said valve being sufficient to allow the valves therebelow to all be lifted before said upper valve is operated, so that when the connection t is in position to seat the lower valve h the connection can be reciprocated vertically to open and close the lower valve without disturbing any of the valves thereabove, and so can any of the valves be operated without disturbing any of the valves thereabove and without closing any valve below. adjusting the connection between the lever o and the reciprocating rod i. Any suitable means may be provided for this purpose. In the drawings the upper end of the rod i is screw-threaded and the position of the lever on the rod is fixed by means of a nut t, so that the rod can be kept at any height required for operating one valve and leaving the others inert. It is to be understood that the play of any valve necessary to admit and shut off the air or steam is quite slight, and therefore the amplitude of the reciprocating movement is not great. Provision is made for allowing the several valves to move as required.

u indicates the connections in which the valves are contained.

In practical operation the superhea'ted air or steam passing down through the air or steam pipe d will constantly fill the entire pipe, and the heat therefrom will operate to heat the oil in the cases of oi1wells thereby increasing the fluidity of the oil. The superheating also causes greater tension of the steam or air, and thereby increases its efficiency.

In practice to start the pump into operation at a great depth below the natural level of the oil the operator will first adjust the rod t to lift all the valves and to operate the uppermost valve. The air or steam will therefore escape at the uppermost outlet and will eject the oil from above the level of said outlet. Then the operator will lower the rod to close the uppermost valve, but to leave the next lower valve open, thus allowing the Huid-pressure to be applied to lift the oil above that level and eject it. then again be lowered to close that valve, thus causing the steam or air to pass out at the next lower outlet, and thus the rod would be lowered until all the valves save the lowermost one would be closed, and then the timed means for reciprocating the rod will be allowed to operate the rod to open and close the lowermost valve, as required for the proper inflow and discharge of the oil into and from the pipe d.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A pump comprising a lifting-pipe; a

Means are provided fork The rod would check-valve atthe lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished at its lower end with an outlet directly above the check-valve; a valve forsaid outlet; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; and means for periodically operating the valve for the outlet of said air or steam pipe.

2. A pump comprising a lifting pipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished at its lower end with an outlet above the check-valve; a valve for said outlet; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; and

timed means for operating said valve thereby opening and closing the outlet of said air or steam pipe.

3. A pump comprising a liftingpipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished with outlets at different heights respectively above the checkvalve at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; a valve for each of said outlets; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; and a shouldered rod extending longitudinally withinv the air or steam pipe, the shoulders being arranged to successively engage with or be disengaged from the respective valves.

4. A pump comprising a lifting-pipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; au air or steam pipe furnished with an outlet above the check valve and at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; a valve for the air or steam pipe outlet; a rod connected with said valve; and means for periodically working the rod up and down.

5. A pump comprising a lifting-pipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished with an outlet above the check-valve and at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; a valve for the air or steam pipe outlet; a rod connected with said valve; and timed means for automatically working the rod up and down to open and close the valve in turn as the lifting-pipe fills and empties.

y 6. A pump comprising a lifting pipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished with outlets at different heights respectively above the checkvalve at the bottom of the liftingpipe; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; a vertically-reciprocating connection furnished with means for opening and closing said air or steam outlets successively, said means being adapted-and arranged for closing any lower outlet only when the outlet or outlets thereabov'e have been closed and for opening any upper outlet respectively when the outlet or outlets therebelow have been opened; andmeans for operating said reciprocating connection, said means being adjustably connected with said reciprocating connection to normally hold said connection in position to alternately open ICO TIO

and close the outlet at the required level While holding the outlet or outlets thereabove, if any, closed, and the outlet or outlets therebelow, if any, open.

7. The combination of a liftingpipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished with outlets respectively openinginto the lifting-pipe at different heights above the check-valve at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; means for supplying air or steam under pressure to the air or steam pipe; valves for the outlets at the diferent heights respectively; a reciprocating connection connected with the lowermost valve to raise and lower the same and having running connections with the upper valves and arranged to successively operate said upper valves respectively, depending upon the vertical adjustment of said vertical connection; means for reciprocating the Vertical connection; and adjustable means connecting the vertical connection and said reciprocating means with each other to adjust the vertical connection vertically1 to canse the operation of the outlet-closing means at the desired level.

8. The combination of a liftingpipe; a check-valve at the lower end thereof; an air or steam pipe furnished with outlets at the dierentheights respectively above the checkvalve at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; valves respectively for closing said outlets; a connection fastened to the lowermost Valve and extending upward therefrom; means at the top of said connection for moving the same up and down; valves for the outlets at the different levels respectively for opening and closing said outlets respectively; and projections on said connection for said valves respectively, the lowermost projection being located to lift its valve only after the lowermost valve has been lifted and each of the upper projections being located to lift its valve only when the lower valves have been lifted; and adjustable means for limit-ing the downward movement of the connection whereby any one of said valves may be operated to open and close at the up and down strokes of said connection while the outlet or outlets therebelow are held open and the outlet or outlets thereabove are held closed.

9. The combination of a lifting pipe; a check-valve at the bottom of the lifting-pipe; a steam or air pipe inside the lifting-pipe and furnished at its lower vend with an outlet and a valve for said outlet and furnished at intervals above such outlet with lateral outlets at different levels; ring-valves respectively v at the dierent levels for closing said lateral outlets and furnished with bails respectively; a reciprocating connection fastened to the lowermost valve and passing through said bails and furnished with shoulders respectively to engage said bails respectively in succession from the lowermost bail upward when the connection is raised, said shoulders being located at such positions on said connection as to allow sufficient rise and fall of said connection while a valve is resting upon its particular shoulder, to open and close the outlet controlled by said valve without opening any of the valves thereabove and without closing any of the valves therebelow; and means for reciprocating said connection for the operation of any of the valves to open and close the outlet controlled by said valve without opening and closing any of the other outlets.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, California, this 9th day of February, 1901.

FRANKLIN HEIL.

Witnesses:

JAMES R. TowNsEND, JULIA ToWNsEND. 

